The Art of Retaliation (16 page)

By the time they reached the house the storm had intensified and
Mara was so worried that she wanted to go out and help
Stephane
look for Maxine.
 
She was still
unsure she was doing the right thing by remaining silent.

Mara was taken straight back to her room where the annoyed
billionaire left her without a word locking the door behind him.
 
She put a hand to her throbbing
head.
 
No matter how hard she tried
she couldn’t get rid of the images of Maxine wandering the countryside on her
own getting lost in the dark, rain and thunder.

She glanced out of the window listening to the rain splash against
the moat.
 
It was getting
darker.
 
Mara lay down on the sofa
hugging one of the cushions.
  
Curling up into a tight ball she allowed her tears to flow.
 
When she finished crying she was
exhausted but the refuge of sleep didn’t come.
 
Mara wouldn’t let it, not when Maxine
was out there on her own.
 
Again and
again she tried to reassure herself that Maxine would be found and that the
police would soon be here.
 
But the
nagging doubts and
Stephane’s
words swirled around
her mind like a whirlpool dragging her down, demanding to be listened to all at
once. They refused to go away.
 
She’d made Maxine do it.
 
What had she been thinking?

Mara sat up quickly hearing
Stephane
turn
the key in the lock and rubbed her eyes dry, desperately trying to compose
herself.

“Have you found her?” she asked in a cold clipped voice.

“No we haven’t.”

He sat down next to her softening the tightness of his voice.

“I just hope we find her before anything happens.”

More emotional blackmail

“Maxine can take care of herself,” Mara snapped.

“You aren’t so bad but I’m not sure about Maxine.
 
That was some rugby tackle you laid on
Jacques.
 
What were you doing
there?
 
Those two are
dangerous.
 
They’ve both been in
prison for armed robbery, attempted murder and rape.”

Mara shot him a horrified look.

“Armand doesn’t speak,” she said thinking about how much worse the
situation could have been. “He lost his tongue . . .” she paused knowing that
her answer was wrong.
 
“.
. . in a farming accident.”

“More like gang warfare.
 
It was cut out to send a message to his criminal family.”

Mara winced and turned from him.

“What if Maxine runs into those two again?”

Stephane
held his
breath waiting for her to cave in and at least give him some idea of the
direction Maxine was heading in.

She stood up.

“Stop it.”

He watched Mara put her hands to her face and violently shake her
head.

“Don’t think I can’t see what you are trying to do?
 
I am not helping you find her.”

She limped to the window with
hr
sore leg
and ankle making him frantic to hold and soothe her despite his
frustration.
 
She was trying to hide
the fresh flow of tears cascading down her cheeks.
 
He had to keep control and maintain his
position of strength.
 
If he didn’t
get Maxine back they were all in trouble.
 
The billionaire made a decision to pressure Mara further.
 
He stood up and marched towards her
roughly taking hold of her shoulders to turn her around.

“Mara, she could be in danger.
 
Let me find Maxine and bring her home where she will be safe,” he was
almost pleading.

“Safe here with you and your monstrous family?
 
Don’t make me laugh,’ she was sobbing
but her anger was biting.

His own anger and frustration overwhelmed him and he found himself
shaking her, yelling at the top of his voice.

“Mara, tell me where she is before she ends up dead in a ditch or
caught by those rapists.”

Mara broke free and backed herself up against the wall.
 
The billionaire moved to follow her and
then caught sight of the sudden fear in her eyes.
 
He felt confused at her reaction but
continued advancing.
 
She couldn’t
think he was going hurt her?
 
He
only wanted to press her for Maxine’s whereabouts.

His beautiful captive put her head in her hands and covered her face
trembling with fear.
 
Stephane
stopped dead.
 
This wasn’t like Mara.
 
She
always fought him and more than often won.
 
Why the hell was she so frightened of him now?
 
He didn’t like it at all.
 
The idea of physically frightening a
woman was abhorrent to him.

The shock of seeing her in such a state made his adrenaline
recede.
 
An overwhelming need to
protect her replaced it.
 
Slowly he
lifted her shaking hands away to reveal her pained eyes.
 

Stephane
lightly
brushed her tears away, feeling her push her body further back against the wall
to reel away from him.

“Don’t back away.
 
I
won’t hurt you,” he tried to reassure.

He repeated the words lowering his voice to a whisper.

“I promise I won’t hurt you.
 
I could never hurt you.
 
You
are safe.”

The billionaire watched her look down at his hands cupping her
shoulders.
 
He made sure his hold
was strong but gentle.
 
Stephane
caught her gaze and made sure he maintained it
trying to convey the truth of his assertion in an effort to calm her fear and
agitation.
 
Finally, she let out a
breath and
Stephane
felt the tension begin to ebb
from her shoulders.
 
He led her back
to the sofa.

“Are you all right?”

She nodded and sat down.
 
Stephane
moved to the side of the bed and
picked up the packet of tablets the doctor had given Mara to help her sleep and
took
a
 
bottle
of water from the small fridge in her room.

“Here I want you to take a couple of the tablets the doctor gave you
to help you sleep,” he said firmly towering in front of her holding them out to
her.
 
Thankfully she didn’t object
and took them quickly.

The reason for her uncharacteristic behavior became clear in his
mind.
 
With a sigh he sat down
beside her again.

“Ryan used to hit you, didn’t he?’ he asked.

Mara bent her head as though ashamed.

“Yes he did.
 
It started
not long before we broke up.
 
The
first time I hit him back but he came in harder and I learned my lesson.
 
The police weren’t much help.
 
He wouldn’t let me leave until my brother
threatened him.
 
I won’t ever forget
the lies I had to tell the hospital or my stupidity in blaming myself for his
behavior,” she confessed.
 
“He
changed so much in a short while.
 
He was gambling and stealing from his business partner.
 
He sold some of the antiques they had
acquired on the black market and some dubious characters.
 
Then there were reports of thefts from
some of his clients who he valued antiques for.”

Stephane
nodded.

“When he left with Louise he stole two valuable pieces from the
chateau.”

“How did you know he hit me?” she asked in a quiet fragile voice.

“You had the same look in your eyes when I found out my sister was
being beaten by her last boyfriend.
 
Every time he went near her or she said the wrong thing there was terror
in her eyes and she watched every move he made.
 
You thought I was going to hit you.”

Stephane
loosened
his tie that hung like a rope around his neck and watched Mara’s eyes begin to
flutter and close.
 
He moved closer
letting his fingers softly trail her face as he spoke unable to stop himself
wanting to be close to her.

“I will never hurt you, Mara and I won’t let anyone else abuse you.”

Mara’s breathing deepened as his eyes swept over her face.

“I am so tired,’ she said as he moved even closer.

“I know.”

The billionaire bent his head and lowered his mouth to hers to
gently kiss her.
 
When he raised his
head again he felt her body relax and sleep claim her.
 
Stephane
smiled at her sleeping form.
 
His
captive looked peaceful and vulnerable so unlike the
confident
woman he’d seen taking on Jacques and resisting his questioning.
 
She was perfect in every detail,
everything he looked for in a woman.
 
At times, Mara was tough, demanding, intelligent, feisty, uncompromising
to his arrogance, yet soft, malleable, feminine and in need of his care and
protection as a man.

It was unfair there could never be a relationship.
 
Stephane
picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bed.
 
He resisted the temptation to stay and
watch over her.
 
He had to limit the
damage and keep the police away when Maxine raised the alarm.

When Mara woke the next morning she found herself lying in bed
clothed in one of her long satin
night-dresses
.
 
She dimly recollected the events of the
night before and glanced at her watch to get her bearings.
 
Half past twelve.
 
How had she slept that long?
 
She’d never slept that long in her life
and she had gone to bed so early.
 
Wait a minute she hadn’t gone to bed!
 
All she could remember was feeling tired
on the sofa after taking those tablets.
 
She must have fallen asleep.

Mara sat up feeling groggy.
 
It wasn’t the first time she’d taken those tablets and they hadn’t made
her feel this drowsy before and allowed her to sleep for this long.
 
Her body felt like a dead aching weight
and every move was an effort.

Looking around she noticed that the room was different.
 
It was much smaller than
her own
room and the bed she lay in was a single one.
 
No other furniture was present in the
room but for a chair beside the bed.
 
The decoration was simple, almost bare giving the impression that it was
not used very often.
 
A small box
window protruded from the other side of the room.
 
Mara forced herself to stand and move
towards it.
 
He took
all of the
small amount of energy she had to stand.

The window was dirty and to see anything she had to rub a small part
clear.
 
Way down below she could see
Maxine’s brother, Christophe and a French police officer appear on the
courtyard in front of the Chateau walking towards a car.
 
To have this view she realized that she
was at the other side of the building at the top of one of the towers in the
house.

Frantically she started to bang on the window knowing in her heart
that it was useless and began screaming Christophe’s name.
 
She received no acknowledgement and as
she watched them drive away her heart sank.
 
Mara dropped to the floor feeling dizzy
and exhausted.
 
Moments later she
heard footsteps and
Stephane’s
voice.
 
The billionaire sounded furious.

There was another shrill voice arguing with him in French.
 
His mother.
 
Mara heard the door being unlocked and
soon after
Stephane
burst through the door still
arguing with his mother.
 
He dropped
to his knees beside Mara and put his arm around her shoulders, directing her
head to his shoulder.

“Mara, are you all right?’ he questioned holding her face.

“There’s no air in this room.
 
I can’t breathe.
 
It is
claustrophobic.”

“Just a taster of prison Miss Logan.
 
Get used to it.
 
Prison is claustrophobic, not to mention
the hideous women you will have to share it with if we decide not to give you
to Abdul
Hasseem
,” Chantal
Garreau
sneered triumphantly.

Stephane
glared at
his mother.
 
A
torrent of French shooting from his mouth with the force of cannonball.
 
Mara closed her eyes against his
shoulder blocking out the scene.
 
Her body felt as though it had gone through a war and sustained heavy
wounds.

“Mara, I am taking you back to your room,”
Stephane
announced.

The billionaire swept her up in to his arms and carried her down the
narrow winding steps leading to the tower room.
 
Once back in her room he settled her in
bed and closed the door locking it from the inside.
 
To her surprise he came and sat down on
the bed beside her.

“I went out looking for Maxine again last night and told Margarita
the housekeeper to undress you and then asked Leon to move you to a room that
the police would never find when they came to search the Chateau,” he hurriedly
confessed hooding his eyes like a guilty school boy as he picked up her hand
and stroked it.
 

“The room I told him to move you to is in the west tower and it is
as beautiful as this one.
 
It was
where my father retreated to when he wanted to escape my mother,” he said with
a smile.
 
“But my mother had other
ideas and without my knowledge had you moved to that rat infested room you
found yourself in.
 
I can only
apologize.
 
I didn’t know you had
been moved there until after the police were gone,” he told her gently bringing
her hand to his lips to brush a kiss over it before lowering it back down on to
the bed.
 
“I am also ashamed to
admit that my mother had you injected with a sedative to keep you asleep.
 
She used to be a nurse.
 
I cannot believe her behavior.
 
Again I
apologise
.
 
I have never cared well for my mother
and her arrogance but I dote on my little sister Louise and it is the only
thing we have in common.”

He pulled the covers up further around Mara who was too tired to
respond.
 
Her eyes began to
close.
 
Stephane
folded his hands on to his lap awkwardly refraining from making any further
intimate contact.

“Maxine is safe you will be pleased to hear,” he laughed
nervously.
 
“Her brother is quite
formidable.
 
He wouldn’t believe
anything I told him.
 
He said that if
I laid a finger on you he’d kill me,” he spoke with a disbelieving tone
glancing out towards the window.

He remembered Christophe’s exact words and his obvious frustration
when the Police refused to search all of the rooms in the Chateau.
 
He waited eagerly for a reply, some
comment, something in her voice that he could detect whether or not there was
an attraction between Christophe and herself.
 
The man was clearly in love with her.
 
The billionaire had seen it blazing in
his eyes through his anger when he’d come banging on the Chateau’s front door.

Mara may be in love with him.
 
Stephane
groaned inwardly.
 
He sounded like a jealous child.

When he received no answer he leaned over her and laughed
softly.
 
She was sound asleep
clutching the bed covers protectively against her chest.

“The tigress is at peace,” he whispered bending over to kiss her
lips.

He stood up and prowled around the room looking for a chair.
 
Finding one he drew it near to the bed
determined to watch over her and not to have her wake on her own.
 
He didn’t want to leave her in her
fragile state and sat down tilting his head on the side of the padded chair to
watch her sleep.
 
It wasn’t long
before he fell asleep himself, exhausted with the whole affair.